NHS under ‘unsustainable’ pressure from spike in emergency admissions

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Many emergency patients stay in hospital for only a daySean Dempsey/PA

Sam ListerHealth Editor

Last updated at 12:01AM, July 5 2010

The number of patients admitted to hospital as emergency cases annually has
risen by more than half a million over the past five years, putting the NHS
under unsustainable pressure, a report warns today.

Many emergency hospital admissions — which can cost more than £2,000 each —
involve patients staying for less than a day, suggesting that doctors are
admitting people with low clinical need, the research by the Nuffield Trust
concludes.

The independent health policy think-tank warns that the trend has resulted
cumulatively in 1.35 million extra hospital admissions since 2005 and must
be addressed urgently.